


circuit lightning

by islandvibe



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: M/M, Manakete Owain, More added later with the next chapter as the first chapter is mainly just setting up plot, References to Sex, The Future Past DLC
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-11-06 06:57:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17935010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/islandvibe/pseuds/islandvibe
Summary: Owain had been thirteen when his parents finally kicked the bucket.Growing up, much like the rest of his friends, he had been under the impression that his parents were invincible. That they'd be around forever and ever, until he, too, was old and gray. They would always be there to protect him, to laugh with him, to have the luxury of watching their baby boy grow up.





	circuit lightning

Owain had been thirteen when his parents finally kicked the bucket.

Growing up, much like the rest of his friends, he had been under the impression that his parents were invincible. That they'd be around forever and ever, until he, too, was old and gray. They would always be there to protect him, to laugh with him, to have the luxury of watching their baby boy grow up.

The first time he had had to come to terms with mortality was when Uncle Chrom had been slaughtered. He had loved his uncle. He was the Exalt, the rightful ruler of Ylisse, and he was kind. He had taught Owain what it meant to be a prince, how to be a kind and fair ruler to his people, and even helped teach him how to use a sword. But even more devastating than his uncle's death was Lucina's reaction.

But time passed, and Owain still had his parents, though his heart curiously ached at such a young age to watch his friends fall into grief one after another. It had started with Lucina, and it had ended with Owain. First his dragon mother, her already weak body struck down by arrows, and then sweet Lissa, killed while tending the wounded.

A lot of his past had become a bit of a blur, after that. He recalled picking up the sword-- His days of play fighting in the castle courtyard with Lucina and his other friends were gone, replaced with the urgency of killing Risen. Soon after his parents died, he picked up his bravado way of speaking, a coping mechanism against the sheer agony of their situation. They traveled far and wide across Ylisse, into the reaches of Regna Ferox and Plegia.

And now he was here. They were just a three days march from Ylisstol, camped outside of the remains of a village that had long since been razed by Risen and Grimleal. Owain was on watch duty for the night, sitting beside the campfire that remained lit with help from his sister and Laurent’s fire magic.

He snuck a glance back at his sister. Nah had taken to sleeping in manakete form, as it was less susceptible to attack then her frail human form. Owain could understand that, and if he had the luxury of doing so himself, he probably would too. His dragonstone burned within the pouch that attached to his hip, but his jealousy that he oftentimes bit back burned more.

She was curled around Lucina’s tent, of course. She always was. Because Lucina was the one who had to perform the Awakening rite, because she was Chrom’s daughter and clearly the only royalty that mattered. Because Owain’s Brand on his lower left arm, and Nah’s own Brand on her lower right arm didn’t mean anything.

Guilt tugged at his insides enough to where he abandoned the thought. He loved and adored Lucina. She was his older cousin, his close friend, and when all of this was over, she would be his Exalt. The ruler of all of Ylisse. So he would bite his tongue, as he always did when their ragtag party of the children of Shepherds doted on her safety and not his.

His stormy thoughts left him ignorant to the crunch of footsteps falling against dry grass behind him, and he jolted with pure fear when hands covered his eyes, and his hand scrambled instinctively for his sword.

“Guess who— Whoa!” A glossy voice cooed behind him before getting surprised, hands darting away from his face. But Owain’s hand dropped, and his rapid heart eased with the warmth that filled his body. He could recognize that voice anywhere, no matter what.

Inigo.

They were… Something. Best friends, but perhaps something more. It was hard to tell, what with the threat of Risen and Grima hanging over their heads. Maybe the shared tent could be looked at as just two friends finding comfort in each other, maybe the casual hand holding when nobody was around was simply to ground each other, maybe the faint press of lips together after every battle was just relief and experimentation.

(Owain didn’t have much of an excuse for when he’d find his head between Inigo’s legs and his mouth full, but that was fine. Nobody would think much of it, right?)

“Apologies, did I startle you? It was just too good, my friend!” Inigo said as he takes a seat beside Owain, and Owain allowed their shoulders to brush together just so. Inigo looked nice, in the lighting of the crackling fire. He wouldn’t say it out loud, but he figured Inigo already knew.

“Ha! My archrival should know better than to believe a hero of my caliber would ever fall for something so low! Aye, I only jumped for effect.” Owain huffed, but his tone was playful. He heard Inigo bark out a laugh beside him.

“Ah, but you’ve fallen for many things before! Like when you fell into the river because Brady told you that a ghost was behind you, or when Severa tricked you into hanging upside down from a tree to boost your endurance… Or maybe my silver tongue?” Owain wasn’t looking at him, but he could see Inigo’s sly grin in his mind’s eye.

It was enough to sate his nerves, for now, but he had a hard time believing that Inigo had come out here for no reason. While they were both plagued with nightmares and generally slept better tucked together, he had never come out like this before. Watch duty was important. Watch duty guaranteed their safety.

Maybe he hadn’t wanted to be caught sneaking out to dance? That was very much like Inigo. Or maybe he had simply come out for a rendezvous under the stars, the closest thing to a date they could get. Owain dreamed of dating him, at some point. When all of this was over, hopefully he could win the dancer’s heart officially.

“We’re splitting up tomorrow.”

Inigo broke the silence that had been brought by Owain’s thinking. Owain wished he hadn’t. He felt a ball of ice form in his stomach.

“The group, I mean. Not us. Cynthia, Noire, Kjelle, and your sister are going to Plegia, to recover two of the Gemstones. Ah, Gules and Azure, I believe.” Inigo spoke, and the ball of ice got colder and heavier. Noire was frail and sickly and scared, and his sister… Well, if she were parted from her dragonstone…

Inigo continued. “Severa, Gerome, Laurent, and Lucina are continuing on to Ylisstol. They need to. Lucina insisted on going alone, but you know how they are. Always so protective! Of course, I understand, but… Ah, well.” He felt the dancer’s hand gingerly drift to his own, their fingers knitting together, a slight anchor against the bile rising in his throat. But he knew what was coming next. He knew, he knew, he knew.

“Well, that leaves the four of us, yes? You, me, Brady, Yarne. We’re going off to find, er… Sable and Argent! Yes, those two. Should be easy.” No, it wouldn’t be. “That’s, er… What I came to tell you. Lucina wants me to apologize on her behalf, as well. You know, for being one of the last to hear about this. Not the last, though! Still have to tell Noire and Yarne… They’re skittish.”

So, Nah knew. And so did Inigo. Fear and anger coiled in his stomach, and he dug his fingernails into the palm of his hand. Lucina made this decision without him. He knew deep down that it was their only option. That he’d have been too stubborn to agree when it was first being talked about. It didn’t quell the storm in his body.

“Well,” Owain said after a tense minute of silence, eyes anywhere but Inigo, “Lucina is our Exalt. It’s her call.”

Inigo left after that. There was no continuing the conversation, and there seemed to be no thawing the ice of dread that was in his stomach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! thanks for reading this. this was originally a prompt i had for an owainigo roleplay, buuut i never got any takers so i figured i’d just put it to better use as a shitty fanfic. 
> 
> thanks to unassumingvenusaur’s gay hack for the nowi/lissa support, i love the thought of owain as a manakete and owain and nah as siblings. i especially love pairing him up with a matching panne!inigo.
> 
> if any of you would ever want to do some owainigo stuff like roleplay or just chatting, my twitter is @harvestscramble! please talk to me i’m really friendly and talkative and i have nobody to dump my scrambled owainigo thoughts on haha.
> 
> until the next chapter!


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